Taylor Swift revealed the secret to monster career success
Last week, I came across one of my favourite headlines I’ve ever seen on this site.
It was a Tim Denning article titled, “Most People Don’t Lack Motivation, They Lack the Ability to Be Excited for 5+ Years”.
You can read a lot of self-help content with a lot of misdirection to stuff like “start taking cold showers to supercharge your brain power” or “wake up at 5 a.m. to become a millionaire.”
Most of it is irrelevant, however.
At the end of the day, the meat of any good self improvement comes down to a painfully simple strategy: be enthusiastic, be consistent, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.
As Denning wrote in that article I pointed out above:
“Stop picking piss-weak goals.
“People often choose bad goals because they see others doing them or want to chase status, fame, and riches. Makes me sick.
“When you choose goals based on what you care about, you don’t need motivation.
“I don’t just choose goals that make me excited. I look for goals that become an obsession. That’s what writing is to me.”
Taylor Swift on enthusiasm
The message popped into my head again as I came across an article today noting that Taylor Swift had just become the first musical artist ever to hold every single spot in the Top 10 of the Billboard 100.
I remembered reading an article about Swift in the New Yorker when she was probably in her late teens, and I was blown away by her relentless drive and focus.
That led me to search out anything else she’d said about what drives her, and I came across this article in Vogue with her tips on career success.
In it, she touches on the same ideas that Denning does.
What he calls “excitement”, she calls “enthusiasm”.
She urged readers to remember why they’re doing what they do and use that to drive long-lasting excitement.
Said Swift:
“There are days when I am so physically exhausted, like if I’m playing a bunch of shows and dancing around in high heels for two hours. But my mind rarely gets tired of this whole exciting adventure that I get to be a part of,” she told the magazine.
“I think that enthusiasm is key to continuing to move forward in this business because even if you get knocked back a peg, or you put out something that people don’t like, or you have people saying stuff about you that’s negative, if you’re an enthusiastic person by nature you take that hit, you feel it, but then you think of a new idea and run towards it.
“Then, that new idea is all you think about, and you’re just fuelled by this relentless enthusiasm disguised as focus.”
The success juggernaut
Even if you don’t love Taylor Swift’s music, you can’t deny that she is a success juggernaut and inspiring role model.
And her words can be applied to any endeavor, be it writing, entrepreneurship, or athletics.
Remember, though, that naked enthusiasm is not enough. As Swift says, after you’re charged with enthusiasm from a new idea, you have to run towards it.
Good personal development books like Atomic Habits, Be Obsessed or Be Average, or one of my favourites, the Compound Effect, all centre around the idea of relentless consistency.
That means showing up every day whether it’s a good one or a bad one, whether you’re hearing praise or criticism. Be driven by what excites you. Be authentic.
Whatever career path or side hustle you’re working on, if you don’t feel passion in your heart, in your core, it might be time to shift your focus to something that does.
Taylor Swift just redefined music success. You should listen to her!
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